FIFA To insure soccer players on national teams

Soccer’s international association will now insure players who represent their countries in tournaments.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) will pay for “total insurance coverage” for international players, according to president Sepp Blatter.

“This is an insurance coverage for the players, for the clubs and the national associations for all matches on FIFA’s international calendar,” Blatter said at the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) conference on Mar. 22. “You have to take into account the best interests of the players.”

European clubs lobbied FIFA for insurance coverage after some players, such as Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, returned injured from the 2010 World Cup. The next soccer World Cup is in 2014. European qualifying matches begin in September.